Pride Month Without Partners: As June Approaches, Corporate Support Recedes

As Pride Month nears and WorldPride prepares to mark its 50th anniversary in Washington, D.C., the celebration comes with a question: where did all of the corporate allies go?In years past, brands jumped at the chance to market themselves as allies during Pride Month. Companies like Nike, Target, and Apple poured millions into Pride campaigns, with Pride-themed products, promotional materials, and partnerships. In the month of June, rainbows could be found anywhere you looked, from social media to train cars and store shelves. While Pride had become a major corporate initiative, with Fortune 500 companies sponsoring parades and selling rainbow products, skeptical members of the LGBTQ+ community criticized these efforts as performative, and the term “rainbow-washing” gained traction in media.But this year, as the economic and political landscape has changed, those who doubted the depth of corporate commitment have been validated. Many companies are quietly, or not so quietly, stepping back from their rainbow-filled marketing efforts and broader DEI commitments. “Since Jan. 21, when President Trump signed an executive order calling DEI ‘dangerous, demeaning and immoral,’ companies have treated it like a dietary fad suddenly found to pose mortal health risks,” wrote Bloomberg’s Brad Stone.“I know that they’re facing tough decisions inside those organizations, and I don’t want to call them out,” Suzanne Ford, the executive director of San Francisco Pride, told NBC News. “I want to call them in. We will remember who stood by us and who didn’t. When it was politically popular, they were lined up.” The Growing Shift in Corporate SupportIn New York City, home to an annual Pride March on Fifth Avenue and the host of WorldPride in 2019, companies such as Mastercard, PepsiCo, and Citi have scaled back or withdrawn their sponsorship of this year’s events, reports the Wall Street Journal. “Two-thirds of last year’s NYC Pride sponsors have agreed to renew their sponsorships, but the rest remain in negotiations to return, have scaled back their funding or have said they are not sponsoring this year,” writes Journal reporter Patrick Coffee. Some companies are even asking for their names to be taken off of promotional materials and event merchandise, out of fear of political backlash, says Eve Keller, co-president of United States Association of Prides. “It’s multilayered, and it’s all happening at the same time,” she said.The retreat from advocacy and financial support occurs amid a broader upheaval in the DEI landscape. Resistance to DEI, which has been growing for over two years, intensified when president Trump’s second term launched a crackdown on DEI across the government, academia, cultural organizations, and corporate America. Before the new legal threat, major companies like Walmart, Google, Target, Ford, Lowe’s, and Amazon had already scaled back their DEI efforts. These cutbacks included reductions in DEI spending, labeling, diversity goals, and partnerships with organizations that track DEI progress.But the backlash to DEI advancement has produced its own backlash. The consequences of companies stepping away from DEI are becoming visible. Target’s decision to scale back its DEI program, including support for gay rights, sparked a boycott that has taken a toll on in-store traffic, which dropped 9% in February and 6.5% in March compared to the previous year. While Target is still sponsoring New York City’s annual Pride march, it has taken a quieter, “silent partnership” role, according to Kevin Kilbride, media marketing manager for NYC Pride. The shift is part of a broader trend of companies pulling back from public LGBTQ+ support, which can weaken the visibility and impact that Pride sponsorships are meant to have. Meanwhile, Twin Cities Pride has declined Target’s sponsorship altogether. NBC News reports: “Andi Otto, the executive director of Twin Cities Pride, said he chose to turn down the company’s $50,000 sponsorship because he didn’t like the message it was sending to the LGBTQ community and communities of color.”Marching Forward, With or Without Corporate SupportIn contrast to the pushback, some companies have remained steadfast in their commitment to supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Levi’s, a longstanding ally, has continued its support, with product lines focusing on “queer joy through self expression,” and continued funding for Outright International, a global organization working to advance human rights for LGBTQIA+ people. Ben & Jerry’s, the prototypical progressive brand, has also maintained its visibility, professing LGBTQ+ Rights as an issue they care about. Other brands like Visa and Oreo have implemented and renewed Pride campaigns, emphasizing inclusion even in a more cautious corporate climate.The question now is whether the corporate world will eventually return to the visibility and support it showed in recent years, continue to retreat into quieter forms of advocacy, or withdraw from the conversation altogether. Some in the LGBTQ+ community may not view corporate involvement as essential, but it can signal broader public support and offer a sense of visibility and empowerment, much needed at a time when the Trump administration is slashing funding for research into LGBTQ health. In keeping with its opposition both to DEI programs and gender-affirming care for adolescents, the administration has scrapped “more than $800 million worth of research into the health of  LGBTQ people, abandoning studies of cancers and viruses that tend to affect members of sexual minority groups and setting back efforts to defeat a resurgence of sexually transmitted infections,” the New York Times reported this week, based on an analysis of federal data.While the drop in sponsorships and LGBTQ+ supportive marketing is disheartening to the community and its advocates, Pride’s core message remains unchanged. Since the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, Pride has been more than a celebration. It has always been a movement rooted in resistance, liberation, and the ongoing fight for visibility, with or without corporate support.Erin Behrens is an associate editor at From Day One.(Featured photo: Vladimir Vladimirov/iStock by Getty Images)